The Blossoming Carnation
by SleepyHydrilla
Summary: The first time Riko got the flowers before her recital, it was a good luck charm. Little did she knows that the second and the next after that will bring her to the one she loves.


"Riko, someone sends this for you."

"Eh? For me? From who, mom?" that time, a mixture of confusion and surprise painted on Riko's face as her mother hands a small bucket of Edelweiss to her. A 'Good luck for the recital' message written nicely on a card can be seen among the flowers.

"I'm not sure about that. But I think it's from your fans."

The red-haired girl tenses the moment her mother mentioned the word. 'Fans... thinking that there's someone out there cheering for someone so plain like her make her happy. But at the same time, it also makes her questioning about herself more.

Truth to be told, She has played piano since she was a child. She also joined for several competitions and recitals. Thus, making her name is quite well known among teen her age. But it's not what in her mind right now.

She thinks that her playing has come into a stagnancy, her skill doesn't grow at all. She thinks that playing piano isn't as fun as when she first played it the first time years ago. They made her afraid to touch the keys again, and it made her unable to play even a single piece on her last competition.

So why she's here right now, getting ready for the another recitals? It's thanks to her friends in Aqours who asked her to join the competition once again. They are caring for her and they give her courage.

 _But does she deserve this kind of attention from someone who don't know her?_

Seeing her daughter's expression, Mrs. Sakurauchi quickly tries to assure the red-haired girl. "Don't worry about it too much, Riko. Just think it as a good charm from your fans."

"I-I guess you're right mom."

"Then, I'll go to the stage now... Wish me luck, mom..." no word come out of Mrs. Sakurauchi's mouth. The older woman only smiles before giving her daughter a nod.

oOo

The recital had unexpectedly went well for Riko, and she was able to play with her all of heart content, thanks to the support from her friends.

 _And probably thanks to that bucket of Edelweiss..._

A week had been passed from the recital. Riko approaches her shoes locker as she's getting ready to go home after several dance practices with the others for Love Live! It was tiring for her. No, it isn't because the dancing practice itself was that hard. Rather, it's because she barely could concentrate, not when a certain ash-haired girl she likes were around.

The red-haired girl slowly takes the key in her pocket before unlocking her locker. Her amber eyes gaze to her right. Secretly watching the said Ash-haired girl opening her own locker next to her.

Much to her surprise, when Riko opens her locker she finds a bunch of Yellow Poppies inside. A small piece of paper sticking inside.

"Hmm? Is there something wrong, Riko-chan?" the question blurted out as an orange-haired girl curiously peeking into her locker. " Whaa, You-chan! You-chan looks! Riko-chan has a secret fans. And they put a bucket of flower in her locker!"

The said You looks surprised at first, although for some reason it seems that she's surprised for another reason completely. The ash-haired quickly recovers though, making her surprised expression went unnoticed by both Riko and Chika. "Eh? Really Chika-chan?!"

"Mou... this is unfair! You-chan is popular among the girls already, and now Riko-chan has her own secret fans too. I wish I have some fans for cheering me up." Chika complains.

" _Congratulation for winning the competition! I know you can do it, Riko-chan! I'll cheer for you and Aqours too on Love Live!"_ Riko decides to ignore Chika's banter while carefully read what written on the paper. A small smile can be seen on her thin lips as the red-haired girl comes into a conclusion.

It looks like her unexpected 'fans' from before is a fellow students from Uranohoshi. And they might know more about her than what she expected before.

oOo

Time flies so fast, especially when you have a lot of things to do. Practicing the dance and composing the music while at the same time studying to keep your score to be as good as possible is not an easy task even for Riko. Several months had passed since the last time Riko received those flowers. She haven't received any since that time. It makes sense though since Aqours was failed the preliminary of Love Live! sometimes ago.

A saddened look can be seen on Riko's expression as she lies herself on her bed. Her amber-colored eyes stare emptily to ceiling.

' _I probably dissapoint her..._ ' Riko said to herself. Her mind still remembering the flowers that she got from her mysterious 'fans'.

' _I wonder whether I can find her and say sorry..._ ' her mind wondering once again. It's not like that she wanted another flower from this certain 'fans'. She just feel bad that she couldn't meet their expectation.

DING DONG!

The bell in her home rings out of sudden, bringing Riko back from her own thought. At first, she decided to ignore it since her mom probably is on her way to the front door.

Only to hear the bell rings once again.

"Riko... can you open the door for me? I'm currently busy in the kitchen." This time, she barely hears her mother's voice from the kitchen downstair.

"Coming!" The red-haired girl rushed downstair, hoping that their guest won't wait too long for her to open the door. It takes less than a minute for her to reach the front door before slowly opening it to meet the guest.

When Riko opens the door she finds no one standing there. It annoys the red-haired girl a bit since she's sure that whoever that guest was they didn't wait for too long, leading her to think that it's probably a prank by some naughty children in the neighborhood. However, before Riko decides to close the door again, the girl notices that there's something on the ground on her front door. It's a small bucket of Daisy.

With her delicate hands, Riko carefully takes the bucket of Daisy closer. She notices that this time she can't find any card with the familiar writing on the flower bucket. But it's more than enough for her to understand what her 'fans' message just from the flower they sent this time.

And it makes her smile once again...

oOo

It takes another months until Riko gets another bucket of flower from her 'fans' for the third time. It's a bunch of daffodils tied nicely together using a cyan-colored ribbon.

" _Aqours win the prelims, congratulation, Riko-chan!"_

The written message is short. But it's clear that the sender is really happy for her and Aqours to win Love Live prelims. Of course, Riko is happy too, but there's something that tugging in her mind.

It has been more than half a year already since this mysterious 'fans' of her sending the flowers. To tell the truth, she has been curious for the past months regarding who's this mysterious 'fans' of hers actually. It's not like that she didn't try to look for them. Deep in her heart, she really wants to meet them so that she can says thank you for keep cheering her. But she decided it would be the best if she leave everything just the way they are. She believes that perhaps they have their own reason to stay anonymous from her.

Still, if she has the chance, she would like to meet them to show them her gratitude... Oh, little does Riko know what fate had saved for her.

oOo

"What a nice sound..."

"The piano here sounds very nice." Riko replies shortly, her delicate fingers skillfully pressing the piano keys one to another, creating a melodious tune.

"I wonder if it's because the sound echoes since it's a big room..." her friend and a fellow member of Aqours, Watanabe You slowly approaches her before positioning herself near the windows. "The view from here is pretty, isn't it?"

"When I transfered to this school, I thought that you could never find this kind of view in Tokyo." Finishing the last part of her piece, Riko slowly standing up before coming closer to where the ash-haired girl now near the windows. From the edge of her vision, Riko notices that You's cyan colored eyes stares intently on her her while she . It's at this time that a small realization is dawned upon her.

 _...I know you can do it, Riko-chan!_

 _...congratulation, Riko-chan!_

Unfortunately for the red-haired girl, before she can do anything to make any confirmation, the ash-haired girl makes her move first.

"There's something I've wanted to tell you all this time..."

"To tell the truth, I love Riko-chan sooooooooooooo much!"

Amber meets Cyan as the ash-haired girl told her true feeling to Riko. A mixture of happiness and surprise stir her stomach around, causing a goosebumps within her. What You had said just now confirming the answer she's looking for the past months. Of course, there're only a bunch of people in her school who calls her by 'Riko-chan'. It's either someone from Aqours or either one of her classmates or even could be both. Oh, how could she realized it just now?

You's cyan-colored eyes looking with anticipation, hoping for an answer from Riko. But there's no word coming from said red-haired pianist. Instead, Riko carefully reaching for something inside her pocket before closing herself more to You's face.

"R-Riko-chan?" You panicked before closing her eyes in reflex, not expecting this kind of development. Riko's face is slowly closing to hers. She just thought that the red-haired pianist would only answer with 'me too!' or something around that at best.

Several second passed, and nothing happened...

"There! It looks good on you!"

"Eh?"

The ash-haired girl slowly opening her eyes again, only to find Riko, now holding a small mirror in front of her much to the ash-haired girl dissapointment. Despite that, it doesn't take a long until You finds something different on her reflection on the mirror. A red carnation sits elegantly behind her left ear.

"Eh? Riko-chan what's this?" the ash-haired girl asked curiously.

"I-It's my answer to your feeling of course!" the pianist blurts out. A hint of embarassment can be seen as Riko's face turns red. "Thank you... thank you for cheering me up this long..." The pianist's voice cracks as she embraces her fellow Aqours member now her girlfriend's figure tightly. She never thought that her secret 'fans' was actually someone she loves since the very beginning.

"Thank you, You-chan, and I love you too..."

oOo

 **Omake:**

"Of all people, I never thought that this secret 'fans' would be you, You-chan..."

"Eh, Really? How so Riko-chan?"

"I don't expect you to be this romantic, especially when it comes to those flowers you know... You probably asked for someone's help right?"

"Oww... that hurts me Riko-chan! But yeah, your're right... I asked Hanamaru to lend me some books how to be romantic to girls, but she gave me a book titled 'Language of Flowers' instead."

"But it works, right?"

"Hehe, yeah... It works like a charm!"


End file.
